2015 october Comply At Work Newsletter

Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503

Comply at Work safety snippets & business bytes Upcoming Courses

P2-3

HSE vital statistics poster P4-5 Client Q and A’s P6-7 Which type of insurance is compulsory P8-9 In the Spotlight

P10-11

October 2015

P2 | Safety Snippets

Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503

Comply at Work OUR UPCOMING TRAINING COURSES‌.

Ask us about our special offers: Pick n mix sessions, free seminars and discounts for retained clients.

Tuesday 3 November Emergency First aid Level 2 Friday 27 November Fire Marshall Training half day Wednesday 9 December Level 2 Award in Health and Safety Monday 14 December Emergency First Aid Level 2 Manual handling Awareness and Asbestos Awareness pick and mix sessions TBC

Places go quickly, so don’t delay, call us now to book your place.

e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk

Safety Snippets | P3

Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P4 | Safety Snippets

Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503

Comply at Work

HSE Vital Statistics poster October sees the release of the annual health and safety statistics on work-related injury, ill health, enforcement and costs in Great Britain.

You may be planning to share this information with your workforce…

HSE’s new ‘Vital Statistics’ poster visualises the key information in an infographic style, allowing health and safety professionals to easily educate their workforce about the consequences of poor health and safety.

Use it to: • Convey the importance of good health and safety • Demonstrate organisational commitment • Encourage employees to take personal responsibility for their own health and safety • Refresh health and safety notice boards The poster can be purchased direct from the HSE:

e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk

Safety Snippets | P5

Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P6 | Safety Snippets

Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503

Comply at Work

Client Q and A’s How to deal with complaints to the HSE… Q. One of our staff has told us that they’ve made a complaint about our health and safety standards to the HSE. They said we had ignored them so they took their complaint further. What will happen now?

A. The complaint will go into the HSE’s systems and be dealt with by a concerns officer. They will contact you to ask for additional information.

For example, if the member of staff has stated that you don’t train in the safe use of chemicals, they will ask you to prove otherwise.

Should you respond? If you don’t reply you can expect the complaint to be passed on to a local enforcement officer. They are likely to visit your site to identify whether there is any basis for the concern to be raised.

What to send? The officer will clearly state what actions are required.

For example, they will ask for evidence of training, completed risk assessments, etc. They will also set a deadline by which the information should be returned.

Tip. Only supply the information that you’ve been asked for and don’t be tempted to try to defend yourself too aggressively.

Just sending what is required should be more than enough for the complaint to be resolved.

e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk

Safety Snippets | P7

Bu By sin te ess s P8 | Safety Snippets

Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503

Comply at Work

Which type of insurance is compulsory?

Employers’ liability The majority of employers are required to obtain insurance to cover claims for workplace injury or ill health. The statutory minimum amount of cover is £5 million.

If your employees are based abroad you won’t need employers’ liability (EL) insurance to cover their work. However, this exception does not apply if the employees work in Great Britain for periods of 14 days or more.

In October 2008 the law changed so that it’s no longer necessary to keep out of date certificates (formerly you had to keep these for 40 years). However, it’s in your best interests to maintain good records of who you were insured by and when in case of delayed claims.

You must display a copy of your EL certificate where all employees can read it. Most employers have a copy in their office, but you can circulate it electronically if you prefer.

Penalties Every month employers get caught out for not having EL insurance. You can be fined up to £2,500 for each day you did not have a valid policy. Make sure that your renewal goes through smoothly and that the new certificate is obtained and displayed promptly.

Tip 1. Pass on the details of insurance promptly after renewal to your company drivers so that they have the information readily to hand. It’s sensible to keep a copy in each vehicle: a habit to treat as mandatory if driving abroad in case local legal requirements are different to ours.

Tip 2. When arranging vehicle insurance make sure you include plant which is licensed for public roads, e.g. fork lift trucks.

Tip 3. A common error is to allow employees to drive their own vehicles on company business without proper checks on their insurance. Look at the exclusions on the policy to be sure that the correct level of business cover has been obtained as there are three classes.

Not compulsory Other types of insurance which are useful in reducing your health and safety liabilities but not required by law are property, public liability (PL) and professional indemnity (PI). PL, which is often low cost, covers everything from someone tripping over your briefcase to major incidents affecting non-employees and other businesses.

Tip. Don’t assume that your PL policy covers absolutely everything. For example, you may need PI insurance if you ever give safety training or advice to third parties, or if you carry out design work. Source: Indicator

Vehicles Although your EL insurance covers many ills, travel by road is one exception. This avoids duplication as motor insurance is required for any vehicle on the public road.

e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk

Business Bytes | P9

Comply at Work

in the spotlight Congratulations to our clients who have recently received the following safety accreditations this month with our assistance: Internal Drywall Solution – SMAS Ash Surfacing Ltd - SMAS Abstract Scaffolding Ltd passed first time for CHAS accreditation Welcome to our new clients this month: Americhem Europe Ltd, Eccles Grassroots Wholesale Foods Ltd, Altham, East Lancs KTP Electrical Services Ltd, Horwich, Bolton Manchester Settlement Euromark Marking & Coding Ltd, Wigan

We also has a very successful evening at the Best of Bolton Business Expo and made new contacts, and had a lot of interest in our services and training offerings.

Thanks to Air Vault trampoline park in Westhoughton.

We attended their launch party which was great fun.

Congratulations on their success, we are sure they will go from strength to strength and provide a much needed leisure facility in the community.

Air Vault have attended Health and Safety, first aid training and fire warden training in preparation for opening to the public. All delegates have passed the courses.

We would be grateful if you could give us a like and share our company Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Comply-At-WorkLtd/278727748906810?fref=ts

HSM Banner.pdf

1

14/04/2015

09:18

HSM Banner.pdf

1

14/04/2015

09:18

Employee Surveys Employee Surveys Employee benefits packages Employee benefits packages Internal Communications

STAFF RETENTION STAFF RETENTION RETENTION STAFF

Internal Communications Team Building

STAFF RETENTION SPECIALISTS SPECIALISTS SPECIALISTS SPECIALISTS

Team Building Social Media Management Social Media Management

CONTACT US

CONTACT US Employee Surveys Employee Surveys 07711 369 183 Employee benefitscontactus@hsmconsultants.co.uk packages 07711 369 183 Employee benefitscontactus@hsmconsultants.co.uk packages hsmconsultants.co.uk Internal Communications hsmconsultants.co.uk Internal Communications Team Building FOLLOW US Team Building FOLLOW US Social Media Management Social Media Management

This newsletter has been brought to you by...

CONTACT US CONTACT US

cloud ]achine

07711 369 183 07711 369 183 tHE contactus@hsmconsultants.co.uk contactus@hsmconsultants.co.uk

hsmconsultants.co.uk hsmconsultants.co.uk Providing everything you need for promoting your business,

FOLLOW US for print and web, to advanced marketing from graphic design for iPhone, FOLLOW US iPad, tablets and smartphones

saRa pascoe

www.thecloudmachine.co.uk Graphic Design | Web Design | App Design | eCommerce | eMail Marketing

Give us a call to see what we can do for you on

0777 337 1020

LRH SOLUTIONS

Your one-stop solution to all your maintenance requirements.

Business or Domestic.

No job too small.

LRH SOLUTIONS

Please call Les for a no obligation quote on: ✆ 07974 978386 lrh1@btinternet.com

C @

COMPLY at WORK HEALTH & SAFETY CONSULTANCY AND TRAINING

adve r tise with us for unde r £10 pe r month Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503 e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk For more information call 01925 599760